Super Computer Watson Named ‘Person’ Of The Year At Webby

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences has announced the list of winners’ of this year’s Webby Awards which will be hosted on June 13.

Surprisingly, this will be the first time when a non-human has been selected for a Webby, which honours achievements in the internet.

IBM’s Jeopardy winning Watson super computer will receive the Webby Person of the Year award this year, giving rise to debate on whether it was OK to give a Person of the Year award to a non-human.

According to an article on Pittsburgh Live, the Webby Awards Officials said that the computer was selected for the Webby Person of the Year award because of “his ground breaking scientific and technological achievements as the most comprehensive question-answering computer system”.

“It is undeniable that Watson has opened the floodgates for advancement in all future computing systems, which is undoubtedly deserving of recognition and praise,” they added.

Other recipients of the Webby Awards include rock band LCD Sound system which has been chosen for the artist of the year award, "It Gets Better Project" founder Dan Savage stands to receive a special Webby Award.